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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 65,000 articles authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Assembling a safe and effective toolbox for integrated flea control and plague mitigation: Fipronil experiments with prairie dogs Assembling a safe and effective toolbox for integrated flea control and plague mitigation: Fipronil experiments with prairie dogs
Background Plague, a widely distributed zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors, poses a significant risk to ecosystems throughout much of Earth. Conservation biologists use insecticides for flea control and plague mitigation. Here, we evaluate the use of an insecticide grain bait, laced with 0.005% fipronil (FIP) by weight, with black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPDs, Cynomys...
Authors
David A. Eads, Travis Livieri, Tyler Tretten, John Hughes, Nick Kaczor, Emily Halsell, Shaun M. Grassel, Phillip Dobesh, Eddie Childers, David Lucas, Lauren Noble, Michele Vasquez, Anna Catherine Grady, Dean E. Biggins
PCB exposure is associated with reduction of endosymbionts in riparian spider microbiomes PCB exposure is associated with reduction of endosymbionts in riparian spider microbiomes
Microbial communities, including endosymbionts, play diverse and critical roles in host biology and reproduction, but contaminant exposure may cause an imbalance in the microbiome composition with subsequent impacts on host health. Here, we examined whether there was a significant alteration of the microbiome community within two taxa of riparian spiders (Tetragnathidae and Araneidae)...
Authors
Brittany G. Perrotta, Karen A. Kidd, David Walters
Global dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption Global dataset of species-specific inland recreational fisheries harvest for consumption
Inland recreational fisheries, found in lakes, rivers, and other landlocked waters, are important to livelihoods, nutrition, leisure, and other societal ecosystem services worldwide. Although recreationally-caught fish are frequently harvested and consumed by fishers, their contribution to food and nutrition has not been adequately quantified due to lack of data, poor monitoring, and...
Authors
Holly Susan Embke, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Ashley M. Robertson, Robert Arlinghaus, L. Akintola, Tuncay Atessahin, Laamiri Mohamed Badr, Claudio Baigun, Zeenatul Basher, T. Douglas Beard, Gergely Boros, Shannon D. Bower, Steven J. Cooke, Ian G. Cowx, Adolfo Franco, Ma. Teresa Gaspar-Dillanes, Vladimir Puentes Granada, Robert John Hart, Carlos Heinsohn, Vincent Jalabert, Andrzej Kapusta, Tibor Krajc, John D. Koehn, Goncalo Lopes, Roman Lyach, Terence Magqina, Marco Milardi, Juliet Nattabi, Hilda Nyaboke, Sui C. Phang, Warren M. Potts, Filipe Ribeiro, Norman Mercado-Silva, Naren Sreenivasan, Andy Thorpe, Tomislav Treer, Didzis Ustups, Olaf L.F. Weyl, Louisa E. Wood, Mustafa Zengin, Abigail J. Lynch
Cumulative effects of piscivorous colonial waterbirds on juvenile salmonids: A multi predator-prey species evaluation Cumulative effects of piscivorous colonial waterbirds on juvenile salmonids: A multi predator-prey species evaluation
We investigated the cumulative effects of predation by piscivorous colonial waterbirds on the survival of multiple salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) populations listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) and determined what proportion of all sources of fish mortality (1 –survival) were due to birds in the Columbia River basin, USA. Anadromous juvenile salmonids (smolts) were exposed...
Authors
Allen F. Evans, Quinn Payton, Nathan J. Hostetter, Ken Collis, Bradley M. Cramer, Daniel D. Roby
Testing assumptions in the use of PIT tags to study movement of Plethodon salamanders Testing assumptions in the use of PIT tags to study movement of Plethodon salamanders
Studying the movements of organisms that live underground for at least a portion of their life history is challenging, given the state of current technology. Passive integrated transponders (PIT tags) provide a way to individually identify and, more recently, study the movement of smaller animals, including those that make subterranean movements. However, there are widespread assumptions...
Authors
Sean C Sterrett, Todd L. Dubreuil, Matthew J. O'Donnell, Adrianne Brand, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Discovery and potential ramifications of reduced iron-bearing nanoparticles — Magnetite, wüstite, and zero-valent iron — In wildland–urban interface fire ashes Discovery and potential ramifications of reduced iron-bearing nanoparticles — Magnetite, wüstite, and zero-valent iron — In wildland–urban interface fire ashes
The increase in fires at the wildland–urban interface has raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of ash remaining after burning. Here, we examined the concentrations and speciation of iron-bearing nanoparticles in wildland–urban interface ash. Total iron concentrations in ash varied between 4 and 66 mg g−1. Synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES)...
Authors
Mohammed Baalousha, Morgane Desmau, Sheryl A. Singerling, Jackson P. Webster, Sandrine J. Matiasek, Michelle A. Stern, Charles N. Alpers
Millennia-old coral holobiont DNA provides insight into future adaptive trajectories Millennia-old coral holobiont DNA provides insight into future adaptive trajectories
Ancient DNA (aDNA) has been applied to evolutionary questions across a wide variety of taxa. Here, for the first time, we leverage aDNA from millennia-old fossil coral fragments to gain new insights into a rapidly declining western Atlantic reef ecosystem. We sampled four Acropora palmata fragments (dated 4215 BCE - 1099 CE) obtained from two Florida Keys reef cores. From these samples...
Authors
Carly B. Scott, Anny Cardenas, Matthew Mah, Vagheesh Narasimhan, Nadin Rohland, Lauren T. Toth, Christian Voostra, David Reich, Mikhail V Matz
Winter severity affects occupancy of spring- and summer-breeding anurans across the eastern United States Winter severity affects occupancy of spring- and summer-breeding anurans across the eastern United States
Aim Climate change is an increasingly important driver of biodiversity loss. The ectothermic nature of amphibians may make them particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation regimes, adding to declines from other threats. While active season environmental conditions can influence growth and survival, effects of variation in winter conditions on population dynamics...
Authors
Sarah R. Weiskopf, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Laura Thompson, Sarah Wheedleton, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Optimizing survey design for shasta salamanders (Hydromantes spp.) to estimate occurrence in little-studied portions of their range Optimizing survey design for shasta salamanders (Hydromantes spp.) to estimate occurrence in little-studied portions of their range
Shasta salamanders (collectively, Hydromantes samweli, H. shastae, and H. wintu; hereafter, Shasta salamander) are endemic to northern California in the general vicinity of Shasta Lake reservoir. Although generally associated with limestone, they have repeatedly been found in association with other habitats, calling into question the distribution of the species complex. Further limiting...
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, Jonathan P. Rose
Projecting flood frequency curves under near-term climate change Projecting flood frequency curves under near-term climate change
Flood-frequency curves, critical for water infrastructure design, are typically developed based on a stationary climate assumption. However, climate changes are expected to violate this assumption. Here, we propose a new, climate-informed methodology for estimating flood-frequency curves under non-stationary future climate conditions. The methodology develops an asynchronous...
Authors
Chandramauli Awasthi, Stacey A. Archfield, Karen R. Ryberg, Julie E. Kiang, A. Sankarasubramanian
An initial assessment of plankton tow detection probabilities for dreissenid mussels in the western United States An initial assessment of plankton tow detection probabilities for dreissenid mussels in the western United States
Early detection of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis) is crucial to mitigating the economic and environmental impacts of an infestation. Plankton tow sampling is a common method used for early detection of dreissenid mussels, but little is known about the sampling intensity required for a high probability of early detection using the method. We used...
Authors
Meaghan Winder, Adam Sepulveda, Andrew Hoegh
Divergent gene expression profiles in Alaskan sea otters: An indicator of chronic domoic acid exposure? Divergent gene expression profiles in Alaskan sea otters: An indicator of chronic domoic acid exposure?
An opportunistic investigation into ecosystem instability in Kachemak Bay (KBay), Alaska, has led us to investigate exposure to toxic algae in sea otters. We used gene expression to explore the physiological health of sea otters sampled in KBay in May 2019. We found altered levels of gene transcripts in comparison with reference sea otters from clinically normal, oil-exposed, and...
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Susan Knowles, Kathi Lefebvre, Michelle St Martin, Michael Murray, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Daniel Monson, Ben Weitzman, Brenda Ballachey, Heather Coletti, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, C Cummings